The passing of the CARES Act and $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) created extensive financial assistance to help businesses continue operating and enable employees to retain their jobs. It also created endless questions about eligibility for loans and grants, and about compliance with employee benefits regulations.
One of the CARES ACT-related questions we’ve received at Sylvia Group is, “Am I eligible for assistance as a sole proprietor?”
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) addresses this on its website:
“The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan provides vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This program is for any small business with less than 500 employees (including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit organization or 501(c)(19) veterans organizations affected by COVID-19.”
The SBA website is just one of multiple online resources that provide answers to questions regarding the CARES Act, the PPP and other sources of assistance. Other sites include:
- Coronavirus.gov
- Mass.gov COVID-19 Resources and Guidance for Business
- Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network (MSBDCN) resources and FAQ
- New Bedford Economic Development Council.
Answers from specialized advisers
Recognizing that not all questions are as easy to answer as the one about the eligibility of sole proprietors, Alera Group has established a webinar series to address employers’ concerns regarding COVID-19.
The webinars feature specialized advisers who provide updates and explanations on legislation and compliance issues, and they include the opportunity to submit viewer questions. Upcoming are:
- COVID-19, OSHA and Construction on Thursday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m. EDT
- Worker Safety and COVID-19 on Monday, April 13, also at 2:30 p.m. EDT
- Q1 State of the Markets Review on Wednesday, April 29 at noon EDT.
For further details and registration, click on the corresponding link above.
Comprehensive, orderly collection of resources
Within a day or two of each webinar, Alera Group will post a recording of the session in its Coronavirus Resource Center. Comprehensive and easy to navigate, the attractively designed page also includes links to Property & Casualty Insurance information, legal alerts, employer resources, FAQs, wealth management resources and infographics such as this Decision Tree for Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSLA).
You’ll also find plenty of coronavirus-related information
- in the Sylvia Group Blog;
- in the continually updated blog post Planning, and Managing Your Organization’s COVID-19 Response;
- on our social media sites — Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you’d like to talk with a Sylvia Group agent and discuss how the Sylvia Protection System can apply to your business, we’d be happy to hear from you. Click on the button below to begin our conversation.
By MAUREEN SYLVIA ARMSTRONG
Managing Partner, Sylvia Group
About Maureen Sylvia Armstrong and Sylvia Group
For more than three decades, Sylvia Group Managing Partner and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) Maureen Sylvia Armstrong has served her clients and her community, distinguishing herself as a recognized business and civic leader on Massachusetts’ SouthCoast. From the time Maureen entered the agency founded by her grandfather, Sylvia Group has grown from a staff of 10 employees to a team of almost 50 highly trained professionals providing insurance, employee benefits and financial planning solutions to businesses and individuals throughout the SouthCoast and beyond. A graduate of Bishop Stang High School and Boston College’s Carroll School of Management with degrees in finance and marketing, Maureen has been honored by the SouthCoast Chamber of Commerce as Small Business Person of the Year, by SouthCoast Media Group as Woman of the Year and by Bristol Community College as a Benevolent Entrepreneur. In October 2018, she was inducted to the Bishop Stang Hall of Honors.
Sylvia Group uses SPS – the Sylvia Protection System – to empower businesses and individuals with performance-based insurance, benefits and financial planning programs. SPS makes our clients active participants in managing risk and containing premiums, resulting in coverage that is both customized and cost-effective. In addition to making a difference for our clients, we make a difference for our community as a whole by actively supporting and serving many of southern New England’s most reputable and effective nonprofit organizations and institutions. Founded in 1950, Sylvia Group became an Alera Group company at the outset of 2020, enabling us to combine the local, personal service for which we’re known with the scope and resources of a national firm.
